two three times a week
I see her sitting on the balcony
when weather permits
here in old Italy town
in what is left of North Beach
her robe slightly parted
she thumbs through the pages
of a book, takes no notice
of the people coming and going
down below
she stands stretches with arms
that tease the face of the sun
stroke the boundaries
of my mind
my eyes plead to read the pages
her fingers sensually turn
long for one intimate moment
to enter the space between
the pages between the parting
of her robe
a journey to forbidden places
a flight back to another time
to another place another world
high on a balcony where I too
ignore the people coming
and going down below
A.D. Winans is an award winning San Francisco poet and writer. His work has appeared internationally and has been translated into 8 languages. He edited and published Second Coming Press from 1972-1989. In 2006 he won a PEN National Josephine Miles Award for excellence in literature. In 2009 PEN Oakland Presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2009 he was presented with a Kathy Acker award in poetry and publishing.
